Castlevania III - Walking stairs and controlling Grant

[BerryTogart]

I recently re-picked up Castlevania III (currently I don't have my full retro setup and bought the XBox Collection) and what kills me most is walking stairs and trying to control Grant. (the climbing sailor).

It's insane how often I die by trying to walk down stairs and my character just drops to his death. (If I get it correct you have to press down when you are still a bit away from the stairs?)

About Grant: What SHOULD he be able to do climbing? Sometimes it seems I can grab the ceiling, then walk around a block with no problem and end up on the top to take a shortcut in certain levels. On other occasions I try to do the same and can't seem to figure out a way to climb around the ledge.

Are those problems just poor control on my side? Is it an emulation problem on the XBox where certain frames matter? Advice appreciated.

 

[yagamikun]

I recently re-picked up Castlevania III (currently I don't have my full retro setup and bought the XBox Collection) and what kills me most is walking stairs and trying to control Grant. (the climbing sailor).

It's insane how often I die by trying to walk down stairs and my character just drops to his death. (If I get it correct you have to press down when you are still a bit away from the stairs?)

About Grant: What SHOULD he be able to do climbing? Sometimes it seems I can grab the ceiling, then walk around a block with no problem and end up on the top to take a shortcut in certain levels. On other occasions I try to do the same and can't seem to figure out a way to climb around the ledge.

Are those problems just poor control on my side? Is it an emulation problem on the XBox where certain frames matter? Advice appreciated.

In most classic Castlevania games you need to press down a few pixels away from stairs to "attach" to them or you'll just drop like a stone. Just a quirk of the deliberate control set up. Castlevania 4 does not have this quirk and you'll attached to stairs automatically.

Grant can climb on relatively any surface, but you need to hold the direction he's facing on the surface to keep him attached. That means holding up on the ceiling, etc. You can also climb around platforms, but again, you'll need to hold the direction toward the surface all the way around the edges as well. It's hard to pull off precisely, but you'll get used to it eventually. Just takes some practice and patience to be consistent. Eventually, you'll be able to just "fall down" the clocktower on the way back down with Grant and just catch the occasional platform.

If you're playing the US version, use the name Help Me to get 10 lives. That does not work in the Japanese version - although, if you aren't playing the Japanese version in the collection you're missing out on the best soundtrack in the series and a more even difficulty curve throughout the game.

 

[BerryTogart]

In most classic Castlevania games you need to press down a few pixels away from stairs to "attach" to them or you'll just drop like a stone. Just a quirk of the deliberate control set up. Castlevania 4 does not have this quirk and you'll attached to stairs automatically.

Grant can climb on relatively any surface, but you need to hold the direction he's facing on the surface to keep him attached. That means holding up on the ceiling, etc. You can also climb around platforms, but again, you'll need to hold the direction toward the surface all the way around the edges as well. It's hard to pull off precisely, but you'll get used to it eventually. Just takes some practice and patience to be consistent. Eventually, you'll be able to just "fall down" the clocktower on the way back down with Grant and just catch the occasional platform.

If you're playing the US version, use the name Help Me to get 10 lives. That does not work in the Japanese version - although, if you aren't playing the Japanese version in the collection you're missing out on the best soundtrack in the series and a more even difficulty curve throughout the game.

Thank you. Yeah I have the sharp twin fami with RGB mod and N8 in the storage, would need to get it out again. I had the problem that the sound effects were way louder than the music there, but perhaps just a problem with my TV sound setup.

 

[StevenK]

It's hard to pull off precisely, but you'll get used to it eventually.

 

[Neo Alec]

Thank you. Yeah I have the sharp twin fami with RGB mod and N8 in the storage, would need to get it out again. I had the problem that the sound effects were way louder than the music there, but perhaps just a problem with my TV sound setup.

The older Everdrives generally have low expansion audio volume on stock hardware. You'll know it if the bass part of the music is too loud compared to the main melody.

 

[BerryTogart]

The older Everdrives generally have low expansion audio volume on stock hardware. You'll know it if the bass part of the music is too loud compared to the main melody.

Interesting, didn't know that thanks. I guess the only way to fix that is having an OG game or a newer everdrive?

 

[yagamikun]

Thank you. Yeah I have the sharp twin fami with RGB mod and N8 in the storage, would need to get it out again. I had the problem that the sound effects were way louder than the music there, but perhaps just a problem with my TV sound setup.

Interesting, didn't know that thanks. I guess the only way to fix that is having an OG game or a newer everdrive?

Not sure about newer Famicom Everdrives (I don't use one myself), but the OG cart's sound balance is correct and should sound correct on any Famicom variant.

I recently re-picked up Castlevania III (currently I don't have my full retro setup and bought the XBox Collection)

I assume you're playing on the modern Castlevania Collection on Xbox that came out a couple years back? The Japanese versions of all the included games should be in the second menu.

Aside from all the other differences with the Japanese game, Grant uses a throwing knife as his normal weapon (no hearts required) rather than his short-range dagger like in the US version.

Basically, you can hang from the ceiling or walls and throw your long range projectile to kill anything from a distance. Since he is the only character with a full screen projectile as a main weapon, he's significantly more useful in the JP version - especially in the later stages.

 

[GohanX]

Interesting, didn't know that thanks. I guess the only way to fix that is having an OG game or a newer everdrive?

IIRC newer firmware updates let you toggle the expansion audio volume between a couple of settings. It's also worth considering that different revisions of Famicom hardware will play the audio at slightly different volumes, and the expansion audio playback of the Everdrive isn't very good to begin with.

 

[Neo Alec]

Not sure about newer Famicom Everdrives (I don't use one myself), but the OG cart's sound balance is correct and should sound correct on any Famicom variant.

That isn't the common wisdom on those. Also, as @GohanX pointed out, not all Famicoms are alike. For example, newer AV Famicoms like mine have the expansion audio way too loud without modification.

 

[LoneSage]

Fun fact, Grant was never referred to as a pirate in the Japanese release, he was meant to look like a gypsy

 

[yagamikun]

That isn't the common wisdom on those. Also, as @GohanX pointed out, not all Famicoms are alike. For example, newer AV Famicoms like mine have the expansion audio way too loud without modification.

Ahh, thanks Alec! I haven't ever used a Twin Famicom and it's been decades since I've used an OG Famicom, so I shouldn't make assumptions. Appreciate the insight.

After reading your post here I did some digging through my email receipts and some research on RetroRGB - looks like my NESRGB modded AV Famicom also had the Ace sound mod done at the same time - which makes sense now.